Topic: Site Policies and Guidelines - Artists and Albums Posted: November 13 2010 at 06:45

This thread contains all the site policies and guidelines that are concerned with Artist and Album inclusion into the ProgArchives database. These policies and guidelines supersede and replace all similar policies and guidelines found in various threads throughout the forum. In time the older versions of these policies and guidelines will be removed or hidden, but for now will remain in situ for comparison and reference. In future any reference to these policies must link to the appropriate post in this thread (ie copy the required link listed below)

ProgArchives is dedicated to creating the best and most complete database of progressive rock on the internet. The collaborators of the website dedicate much of their time to careful evaluation and selection of the bands they deem as progressive rock and add bands accordingly. This cannot be done by this select few, however, and we need the help of the entire website to track down bands which would further complete the database. While we want to maintain the most up-to-date and comprehensive database, those who wish to suggest bands to ProgArchives must do some work in order for bands to be recognized, evaluated, and added.

First, please only suggest bands that have released at least one album and are compatible with our definition of an "official release." If the band is signed to a label, it is almost guaranteed this band fits this definition, but if the band is self-signed, please ensure that the band has recorded their music professionally or in a professional manner and has their music available for purchase or download from a respected source. The availability of a physical medium is preferred, but bands whose music is available solely on iTunes, BandCamp, or a similar website will also be accepted. If bands do not have an official release, feel free to create a thread in the unsigned bands subforum.

This subforum is monitored by collaborators who will listen to your suggestions and alert the proper genre team of your suggested band. The genre team will then take your suggestion and evaluate them to determine whether your band is eligible for addition.

PLEASE make the suggestion checker's job easy by creating well-thought out, thorough suggestion threads. Here is a good procedure to follow:

Title: BAND NAME - POSSIBLE SUBGENRE (ex. Genesis - Symphonic prog)

Start with some basic biographical information about the band (ex. Genesis was formed in 1967...)

Provide streamable samples of the band's music that checkers and team members can listen to (ex. youtube videos, BandCamp pages, Soundcloud links, MySpace, Facebook, ReverbNation, etc)

If you have listenable material that would aid in evaluation, you can upload these in .zip or .rar format to file sending websites such as sendspace.com and send them to the team leader of the genre that you are suggesting the band should be evaluated under. A list of team leaders can be found at the end of the post here.

Provide links to the bands official website, websites that have written about the band, or helpful links in general.

One a monitor checks your suggestion, a genre team will look at it next. Evaluation could take anywhere from a few days to a few months depending on how busy a genre team is.

2) Use the email suggestion method, written by Uwe (Rivertree)

Collect sound samples and other helpful information, as stated below. Create a ZIP or RAR archive with all this included, upload it to a free filesharing service (RAPIDSHARE.com is actually recommended because very fast all around the globe) and finally forward the download link to band.submissions@gmail.com as well as your explanation of why this band/artist should be added to ProgArchives and in which sub-genre

necessary informationplease provide some full songs (no clips/excerpts) with acceptable quality (not less than 128 k/bits) for evaluation and streaming. If you want to send a promo CD you'll get back a reply containing a valid postal address. These samples will of course only made available for streaming with permission from copyright holders.

helpful information- website, MySpace as well as other related links with useful informations or reviews- band biography (in English)- an artist picture with a scale of 500 pixel as possible- the complete band/artist discography (album titles, cover art, line-up, tracklisting plus track times) as possible

Once the email has arrived, the Band Submissions Team will check the information and forward the request to the prefered sub-genre team which will evaluate then.Please use this email address only for submitting bands for inclusion. Inquiries about the progress or other issues will be ignored.

Using the first option is usually preferred.

Suggesting a band can seem like a tedious and time consuming ordeal, but we all appreciate your contribution to the site and beg patience as team members evaluate bands. No collaborator is paid, so all evaluations are done on volunteered time. One way to help speed evaluation is to provide a biography. More details about this can be found here.

1. Only bands with official releases can be included in the archives (for bands with no official releases see: Signed/Unsigned Policy).

For the purpose of clarity, an official release is defined here as:

1.1 A single long track or several shorter tracks combined under one title, with at least the length of an EP (10-25 minutes);

1.2 Recorded and mixed in a professional manner, such that it meets commercial sound quality as found on average CDs released by commercial record companies;

1.3 That is available for sale on demand, either in physical (glass pressed CD or CD-R or vinyl, not tape) form or downloadable (MP3, Ogg, iTunes...) from the band themselves or through a commercial distribution company/record shop; and

1.4 Being sold as a commercial product rather than a promotional item.

2. Once an official release is available the band shall be suggested in the Suggest New Bands forum or send directly to a Genre Teams for evaluation, etc.

3. When posted in the Suggest New Bands forum, an indication of which genre team should consider the band will be added to the thread title.

4. Bands being evaluated by a genre team will be accepted on a majority vote of the active team members

4.1 A majority vote will be a number of positive votes in excess of 60% - on teams of 4 or less active members a single No vote should be taken as a veto, rejecting the artist, however this is left to the discretion of the Team Leader but should prompt discussion within the team to the suitability of the artist to the subgenre.

4.1.1 Three-man team = 2 Yes votes, 0 No votes

4.1.2 Four-man team = 3 Yes votes, 0 No votes

4.1.3 Five-man team = 3 Yes votes

4.1.4 Six-man team = 4 Yes votes

4.1.5 Seven-man team = 4 Yes votes

4.2 Past Yes/No votes by retired team members will be counted unless the artist was previously rejected, where on a unanimous "Yes" vote by all active team members will be required (see Controversial Bands Policy)

4.2.1 For example - if a band has 3 Yes-votes and 2 No-votes from past members then these 5 past members will be incuded in the majority vote, so for a team that currently has 4 active members the total number of voting members will be counted as 9 (4+5) and a total of 5 Yes votes will be the required majority vote for acceptance (ie in this example only 2 of the current 4-man team will be needed to clear the artist for addition instead of the normal 3).

1st paragraph: Short history, list of current and former members, style & similar bands

2nd paragraph: Describe the better cds without mentioning their tracks.

End with mention (recommended, highly recommended or not) or brief commentary.

Additional information to be submitted with the Biography:

A band photo (if possible about 200 - 250 pixels wide)

A list of all releases (LP, CD, Compilations, Live) with year of release, track listing (track time), line-up and the cd/album label. (NOT NECESSARY but useful - this does not need to be included in the Biography on the Band page, but is useful for compiling the artist's discograohy section

Addition notes on biography composition:

ALL band names and last names of band members MUST be all caps (ex: GENESIS was led by talented vocalist Peter GABRIEL)

Album names should be in quotations (ex: GENESIS released "Foxtrot" in 1972)

Biographies are not discographies; while major releases should always be mentioned, don't waste your time listing every album ever released.

Focus more on band members and chronology if possible.

A good rule of thumb is to follow this format:

Introduce the band name and genre

Elaborate on the date of formation and the home town

Give a list of the founding member or members if possible

Explain band beginnings (ex: "they played live for 10 years before releasing their debut album in 2003")

Explore their career - well-established bands may have a lot of this material, but often for new bands this may be a sentence or two or not exist at all. Make sure to mention line-up changes, significant changes in style, or other important events.

End with a conclusion that elaborates on the style of the band and bands with a similar sound or obvious influences.

Biographies should be about 2-3 paragraphs. New bands may only have bios of a few sentences while older bands may have lengthy biographies. Don't force information into a bio or make conjectures that may not be true.

artist_name_variant (optional) = alternative name adopted by the artist or an off-shoot for the specified album album_title (mandatory) = album title distinguishing_qualifier (optional) = usually either 'CD' or 'DVD' or any other appropriate distinguishing feature like 'New Version' list_of_alternative_names (optional) = album_name(1) [[" and " + album_name(n)] .... ] = additional name(s) given to the album

1.2 Title to be in its original language, translations should not be included unless the album itself carries it or legibility is seriously impaired

Harakka Bialoipokku ¿Bichos=Dichos?

1.3 Each word of the main title to be in lower case with an initial capital regardless of language of origin, unless deliberately varied for artistic reasons

Peter Bauman and Paul Haslinger: Blue Room Bill Bruford with Ralph Towner and Eddie Gomez: If Summer Had Its Ghosts

1.5 If the album has no title, then the title must default to "artist_name" or an appropriate name in common usage

Bakerloo Queen Led Zeppelin IV Korai Öröm 1997

1.6 In the case of an artist releasing a number of albums with no title, they should be identified by the means in common usage as appropriate

Peter Gabriel 1, Peter Gabriel 2 etc Third, Fourth etc [Soft Machine]

1.7 Multiple parts of a title should be separated by "/", "-" or ":" whichever is most appropriate, to improve legibility even where none exists on the actual cover

Classic Artists: The Moody Blues Lemuria - The Crystal World In Danger

1.8 Where different albums from an artist [eg CD and DVD] bear the same title, an appropriate distinguishing qualifier should be appended in round brackets to each entry

Living With The Past (DVD) and Living With The Past (CD) Space Metal (special edition) and Space Metal (original edition) The Fall of the House of Usher (original version) and The Fall of the House of Usher (new version) Magical Mystery Tour (UK version) and Magical Mystery Tour (USA version) Invisible Touch (single) and Invisible Touch (CD) Owner Of A Lonely Heart (promo single) and Owner Of A Lonely Heart (EP)

1.9 If an album has been released by more than one title, then any subsequent title should be presented in square brackets after the original one in the format "[also released as: alt_title_1 and alt_title_2 ....]"

Then And Now [also released as: Emerson Lake And Palmer Gold and Greatest Hits] Cook [also released as: Live In The USA] Remasters: The Official Anthology [also released as: Uriah Heep Gold - Looking Back 1970-2001]

1.10 Double A-side singles & EPs should have the title of each track separated by "/"

1.11 Distinguishing qualifiers must only be used to separate albums of the same name, otherwise they are superfluous

n (mandatory) = track position number starting at 1 track_title (mandatory) = title of track translated_track_title (optional) = English translation of track_title recording_data (optional) = brief details pertinent to the recording of the track track_length (mandatory) = duration of the track as mm:ss [but with no leading zero]

2.3 Tracks to be numbered in a continuous sequence from 1

2.4 For multiple discs, tracks may continue sequentially throughout, or restart at 1 for each disc, whichever is the most appropriate given the individual circumstances

2.5 The primary part of the track list should describe the album's original release, though LP 'sides' are optional

2.6 Primary list may be followed by one blank line then total time in the format - "Total Time: 9:99", but this is an optional field

1. Tubular Bells Part 1 (25:00) 2. Tubular Bells Part 2 (23:50)

Total Time: 48:50

2.7 Details of bonus material to follow in a separate block but conforming to the same format and under the heading

2.12 All words in song titles to be in lower case with an initial capital

2.13 Brief comments relating to recording details (especially of live albums) or an album's history may follow track lists.

2.14 Asterisks must not be used as a means of cross-reference - track numbers must be inserted into the text

2.15 For a multiple disc release, the tracks for each disc should be headed by a disc_ID and timing in the format "disc_ID: optional_title (09:99)" - the 'optional_title' is for situations where original albums are packaged together

2.16.2 Where a suite comprises separated tracks and is followed by another suite, or by the end of a disc, then a title may be inserted before the tracks in the format "Title:"

Guards, Guards: 1. First Guard (4:13) 2. Second Guard (5.21)

2.16.3 Where a suite comprises separated tracks and is followed by other non-suite tracks, the title can be inserted before the track title in format "n. suite_title: track_title"

1. The Long And Winding River (2:56) 2. Water In The Whistdrive (4:34) 3. The Party: Arrival At The Delirious Gates (5:25) 4. The Party: Hello Sophie, How's The Lumbago (3:20) 5. The Party: A Drink In Time (2:54) 6. The Party: Around And Around We Go (4:42) 7. The Party: Feeling Ungroovy (5:34) 8. The Party: Out Is The New In (3:33) 9. Twenty Ways To Felixstowe (7:16) 10. Heard It On The Tape Worm (2:59)

2:17 Where track, disc or album timings are unknown, the value should default to null

2.18 DVDs should follow these standards wherever possible as guidelines, but a degree of flexibility is allowed to cope sensibly with a wide range of individual circumstances

The Original German Mix 1972: 1. A Tab In The Ocean (16:52) 2. Desolation Valley/Waves (8:12) 3. Crying In The Dark (6:28) 4. King Of Twilight (4:22) The 1976 USA mix: 5. A Tab In The Ocean (16:03) 6. Desolation Valley/Waves (8:33) 7. Crying In The Dark (5:13) 8. King Of Twilight (4:05)

Total Time: 69:53

3. LINE-UP/MUSICIANS - the people who created the album

3.1 Contains data pertaining only to people and performers

3.2 Musicians should be entered in the following format - "- musician_name / instrument_list"

3.14 In situations where different groups of musicians play on specific tracks, each group is listed with a header which identifies the track(s)

Track 1:Name1 / guitar, vocalsName2 / flugelhorn

Track 2:Name3 / guitar, vocalsName4 / toaster

3.15 No additional information to be included in this section except where an explanation of the relationship of a line-up to the named band is desirable, eg where a band has divided like Wishbone Ash. Such description to follow the line-up as free-format text.

4. RELEASES INFORMATION - production of the physical album

4.1 Contains data or description pertaining only to album releases [but not tracks, recording dates etc]

4.10 Descriptive free-format text that details aspects of the album's release(s) may be included, but should not be used to replace the standard data format:

4.10.1 Details of a DVD's format 4.10.2 Cross-reference to other releases relating to the album 4.10.3 Information relating to availability

4.11 If there is no data or description in this section then it should contain the phrase "Not available at present, if you can help with the details, please contact the site"

4.12 For free-release downloads a link to the band website where details of the download can be found can be added. Direct linking of the download is not permitted. Links to file-sharing sites are not permitted.

5. PICTURE

5.1 Picture should be a facsimile of the earliest front cover as released in the artist's home country, if possible

5.2 Pictures should always be 200 pixels wide

CD picture is 200w x approx200h DVD is 200w x approx280h

5.3 File should be no greater than 100kb and in the 'jpeg' format [file extension .jpg]

5.4 Only the album's front cover should be displayed

5.5 If the album had no cover picture [eg for singles] a photo of an actual disc in its sleeve can be used

5.6 If no picture is available, then a 'not available' image should be substituted

1. Only bands with no official releases but with the intention of publishing an official release at some point shall be spotted. Once an official release is available the band shall go to the Suggest New Bands forum or to the Genre Teams evaluation depending on their quality/progginess, etc. At the time of move, an indication of which genre team should consider the band will be added to the thread title.

2. Only one topic shall be started for each new band, with the thread title being the name of the act in question. Topic starter shall inform clearly: band name, nationality and indication of prog genre (CANNOT be prog-related). Also the starter must add weblink(s) and legal mp3 links, if existing. Bio, line-up, member ages, etc, may be added too.

3. Posters may do reviews - which shall appear within the topic (not in PA homepage), comment on songs, define progginess (if the majority thinks the band is non-prog, the thread will be deleted or moved to non-prog music), add information, etc. The initial proposed genre may change also according to the majority of the posters' opinion.

4. The fact that a new band is listed in this forum has no connection with their inclusion in the ProgArchives. Any request for inclusion will not be considered and the post will be deleted.

5. Keep civil the discussion. The respect for the artists, their work and effort must be the first rule.

6. Any attempt of manipulation, fake promotion, evaluation of a non-prog band, etc, once discovered will cause the deletion of the topic. The Admin Team will oversee these issues. Members shall report any abuse found.

Let's remember that we are dealing with the future of our beloved genre and consequently the more positive we are, the better rewarded we'll be, which will benefit the artists even more.

The Free-release Policy is to allow artists that have released their entire discography for free-download to be considered for inclusion into the ProgArchives database. The Free-release Policy does not apply to artists who have, or have had, CDs available for sale and permit free-download of only some of their material - those artists can be submitted under the normal Band Admission Policy.

Free-releases can be accepted at the discretion of the appropriate Genre Team if they unanimously decide that the releases are of a professional standard and they clear it with the Admin Team first.

Since these albums are not available from normal retail sources, the official band website address of where the download can be obtained should be listed in the "Releases information" section of the album page. To clarify for the hard of comprehending: this should be a link to the band/artist website page that contains the link to the download location rather than the direct download link itself.

This is solely at the discretion of the Genre Team evaluating the artist and the Admin Team, no other opinion or influence is accepted and non-team members must abide by the decision when the artist is accepted or rejected for inclusion.

If a Genre Team votes that a free-release is eligible, but then votes to reject the artists because they do not fit the subgenre, then they cannot pass that band to another team unless that team also unanimously decide that the release is eligible.

What constitutes "Recorded and mixed in a professional manner, such that it meets commercial sound quality as found on average CDs released by commercial record companies" is subjective and difficult to define, however Genre Team members are experienced enough in listening to studio releases to be able to tell the difference and to make that judgement call.

In light of experience over a long period, the admin team have being giving thought on the best way to handle potentially controversial band additions.

Our objectives can be summarised as:

To ensure the integrity of the site and its reputation are not adversely impacted through the addition of bands and artists who are widely considered not to be prog

To protect our hard working specialist teams from accusations of misusing their positions or reaching unjustifiable decisions while protecting their autonomy

To provide a clear process which the owners, the teams, the site administrators, and the collaborators can buy into and work within

The process we have identified can be split into two distinct parts:

Identification of a controversial proposal

Reaching a decision

Identification of a controversial proposal

Bands and artists will be considered potentially controversial if they:

Are not generally listed by other prog sites* AND/OR

They have been rejected in the past on the basis of their prog credentials OR

Are flagged up by the team concerned as being potentially controversial OR

Are flagged up by the admin team as controversial

* The requirement is that at least 2 other sites dedicated to prog have identified the band/artists as being prog. New bands are excluded from this requirement.

Once a band/artist has been identified as controversial, we would recommend contacting the Admin team at this stage.

Reaching a decision

If a team of three or more members are unanimous in deciding that a controversial band should be added, this will be sufficient to go ahead with the addition. Note that while the team must have at least three members, all the team members must have voted yes.

If the team does not reach a unanimous "yes" decision, the band should not be added at this stage. Instead, they should be referred to the admin team. Note that the Admin Team will not have the final say here. A panelof three collaborators with a maximum of one admin will be asked to consider the proposal, with a simple majority being required for a decision. Every effort will be made to appoint impartial collaborators for this purpose, to ensure no underlying personal issues contaminate the process. The appointed team's remit will be only to decide whether the band are prog, not which genre they should be placed in. If the decision goes against the addition, at the request of the genre team, the proposal can be passed to M@x for a final ruling.

Prog Related submissions operate under a different process to normal suggestions and submissions. The Admin team does not trawl the forum looking for suggestions in random threads - suggestions made in this way will be ignored. Only suggestions made by a Special Collaborator directly to an Admin team member (via PM only) will be accepted (see below).

While there is a clear set of definitions for what the ProgArchives will consider for inclusion under this category, not all eligible bands and artists will be accepted for addition.

Prog Related is not a category for "hard to place artists" ~ if it is generally accepted that an Artist has produced a Progressive Rock or Progressive Metal album but there is uncertainty to which Prog subgenre they should be placed then the respective Genre Teams must decide which subgenre is the best fit for the Artist rather than the exact fit. These Artists will not normally be accepted for Prog Related unless a very good case can be made for them.

Side projects and solo albums by members of Bands listed in the ProgressiveArchives will only be accepted for Prog Related if a) they cannot be placed in an wholely Prog subgenre and b) the music has some relationship to Progressive Rock/Metal.

Prog Related category is under the control of the Admin Team. The Admin team only evaluates artists on their suitability for the category and the site, they do not add artists nor do they decide whether an artist is "Prog" or not.

Any member can suggest a band for inclusion in the Prog Related category:

Proto Prog submissions operate under a different process to normal suggestions and submissions. The Admin team does not trawl the forum looking for suggestions in random threads - suggestions made in this way will be ignored. Only suggestions made by a Special Collaborator directly to an Admin team member (via PM only) will be accepted (see below).

While there is a clear set of definitions for what the ProgArchives will consider for inclusion under this category, not all eligible bands and artists will be accepted for addition.

While the cateogry is primarily intended for those artists who where pivotal in the formation of the Progressive Rock subgenre prior to 1969, it is recognised that this date is not a fixed cut-off date. Also it is recognised that some earlier artists were creating what can now be considered to be Proto Prog in comparison to artists already listed in the Proto-Prog category, unless those artists were pivotal or influential in the formation of the genre they will not normally be considered for addition into the category. In general, if the artist is obscure and unknown then it is unlikely that they are relevant to the formation of Progressive Rock and they will not be added.

The Proto Prog category is under the control of the Admin Team. The Admin team only evaluates artists on their suitability for the category and the site, they do not add artists nor do they decide whether an artist is "Proto-Prog" or not.

Any member can suggest a band for inclusion in the Proto Prog category:

Traditionally "Sampler" was a compilation album released by a record label to showcase the artists on their rosta.

In more recent times labels have released retrospective genre-themed collections, only albums that contain artists signed to a single label should be listed here, others should be listed under Concept Albums and Themed Compilations.

Only albums that contain tracks by Progressive artists listed in the Archive can be added.

If in doubt - consult a member of the Admin team before adding an album.

VA: Concept Albums and Themed Compilations Policy

Concept Albums are albums recorded by various artists based around a single concept or story

Themed compilations are collections of tracks based around a single theme, usually a genre or subgenre, such as "The Best of Progressive Rock", these differ from samplers when they contain artists from more than one record label.

Only albums that contain tracks by Progressive artists listed in the Archive can be added.

If in doubt - consult a member of the Admin team before adding an album.

VA: Tribute Album Policy

Tribute albums must contain tracks originally recorded by Progressive artists listed in the Archive.

The artists who recorded the cover versions do not have to be listed in the Archive.

Tributes to Proto-Prog and Prog-Related artists are not normally added.

Non-Rock tribute albums can only be added with the approval of the Admin team.

If in doubt - consult a member of the Admin team before adding an album.

THE BAND MOVE POLICY WAS ADDED IN OCTOBER 2011 AND IS DESCRIBED BELOW.

In every project, and every organisation, insights change and people learn over time. As a result, in the case of our site, it may happen that a band is included and after a couple of years the opinion is raised that it should be moved to another (sub)genre than where it was originally added. Causes could be simple mistakes at the time of additions, changes in definitions or unexpected events, e.g. the discovery of a whole new set of material (however unlikely that may seem).

The fact that bands are put in a certain (sub)genre with similar bands is only logical, and gives rise to one of the key strengths of ProgArchives: it enables people to easily discover bands that play a style of music similar to bands they already know and like. As such, there are two reasons to suggest and allow moving of bands to a different (sub)genre: integrity of the musical catalogue, and increasing a key strength of the site. However, in order to avoid 'band ping-pong' or moves based solely on individual opinions (which will result in simliar ping-pong as well as flame wars - neither of which benefits the site) with bands, the following policy for band moves is defined:

Moving an artist can only be proposed by a genre team, be it the team responsible for the (sub)genre in which the band is categorised, or the team that thinks the band fits better in their (sub)genre. Note that the former is likely more often the case.

A majority of the members of each of the two teams (that is a majority per team, not an overall majority!) proposing the move must vote in favour of the move, after a reasonable audit of the band. The results of the audit are made available and discussed in the two team threads or a dedicated thread in the (Special) Collaborator zone.

In case the two teamsare unable to reach their respective majorities, or serious objections are raised by Special Collaborators outside the two teams, a final decision will be facilitated, or in the most extreme case made, by the admin team (to make this possible, they should be notified at the time the move is proposed).

Any move will require some scrutiny, since a band was not placed where it is without preparation. Therefore, the phrase 'reasonable audit' as mentioned in guideline number two requires some clarification. A reasonable audit is one that takes into account:

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot create polls in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum